Beginner gardeners will find pleasure in creating their own flower garden from scratch. Before starting, familiarize yourself with your USDA growing zone and study which plants thrive there.
Maintaining your garden requires being aware of the maintenance needs for it to thrive successfully, and understanding them will enable you to determine when and which flowers to plant.
1. Choose the Right Place
Flower gardens add color and dimension to your yard while simultaneously serving as habitat for pollinators. With just a few steps, any backyard can transform into an inviting flower garden!
Before beginning, determine an optimal location for your garden. Select an area that receives full sun without being shaded by nearby trees; once found, clear away grass and weeds to prepare the soil, then add plenty of compost before raking back over until smooth for planting.
After selecting your home and landscape features, create a flower garden design that complements both. When choosing colors, bloom times, show-stopping focal points, and plant heights to provide four-season interest, keep in mind your USDA growing zone as well as any spacing requirements listed on each plant label. Plants too close together could suffocate each other while those spaced too far apart might never reach their full potential.
2. Prepare the Soil
Once you’ve selected a location for your flower garden, prepare the soil by tilling or ploughing it to ensure optimal conditions for planting. Most blooms need well-draining soil that’s rich with organic matter for best results; make sure there’s not too much shade or sun in this location as this could limit what flowers and bushes can flourish there.
Pour in a generous amount of well-rotted manure or compost to improve the soil’s texture and fertility. Do this several weeks prior to planting so the soil can settle and become airier.
Smelling the soil where you plan to plant flowers can help you better envision their appearance in combination with surrounding foliage and any design features such as fragrance or movement, rather than simply summer blooms.
3. Plant the Right Flowers
Once your soil is ready for planting, it’s time to select flowers carefully. Beginner flower farmers should opt for easy-to-grow annuals like petunias and geraniums as these will bloom continuously through summer as long as you remove faded blooms regularly and add fertilizer when necessary.
Make the most of all four seasons by planting bulbs, perennials and shrubs to add four-season interest in your garden. When selecting plants to plant in combination, be mindful of sun/water requirements, fragrance, size/shape needs and pollinator attractants – they play an integral part of ecosystem! Also remember to incorporate pollinators-attracting species as these pollinators play an essential part of maintaining biodiversity.
If you want to purchase cut flowers that will attract bees, choose those which produce more nectar. Or create your own cutting gardens using vases and buckets of cool, dark water; this encourages branching, blooms, and longer stems. Water early each day for best results to reduce fungal disease risk.
4. Maintain Your Garden
Flower gardens add color, curb appeal, and provide the ideal space for relaxation. While residential gardening may appear daunting at first, it can become an enjoyable hobby that’s full of rewards for everyone involved.
Successful garden maintenance starts with knowing your planting schedule and prepping the soil prior to each season. Researching average spring and fall frost dates in your region will enable you to create an optimal planting timeline to help your flowers flourish and bloom.
Grow an array of annuals and perennials to keep your garden blooming from spring through autumn, choosing blooms with long-lasting blooms such as lilies or dahlias will ensure lasting color throughout the season.
Add shrubs such as roses and hydrangeas for structure in your flower garden, and include native plants to encourage bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators that will pollinate other blooms in your garden. When pruning spent blooms or dead foliage regularly to keep it looking tidy; don’t forget watering, fertilizing and mulching regularly too!